o ■ 


To 


<V\  - 


Ser. 


» 


MR. 


WEST’S 


MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


A 


MISSIONARY 


BY  THE 

REV.  N.  WEST,  JR., 

MINISTER  OF  THE  SECOND  PRESBYTEEIAN  CHURCH,  BROOKLYN,  NEW  YORK. 


gelibereb  in  groolrlp,  October  10,  1801,  before  % Spob  of  Jfrto  gork, 

BY  ITS  APPOINTMENT. 


PUBLISHED  AT  THE  REQUEST  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN 
MISSIONS  OF  TUE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 


NEW  YORK: 

MISSION  HOUSE,  23  CENTRE  STREET. 
1862. 


EDWARD  0.  JENKINS, 
yrlnttr, 

No.  20  Noktii  William  St. 


ADI)  R E S S . 


Fathers  axd  Brethren:  Never,  perhaps,  since  the  memo- 
rable epoch  when  the  gray-haired  and  venerable  Erskine, 
battling  against  the  moderatism  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  which  had  crushed  out  the  missionary 
spirit  from  the  heart  of  her  ministers,  and  taught  that  the 
Church  was  under  no  obligation  to  send  the  gospel  to  rude, 
unlettered  barbarians,  rose  from  his  seat,  and  stretching  forth 
his  trembling  hand,  and  lifting  up  his  quivering  voice,  ex- 
claimed, “ Moderator,  rax  me  the  Bible  ; rax  me  the  Bible  ” — 
Beach  me  the  Bible  ; reach  me  the  Bible — turned  to  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Komans,  and  read  the  impressive 
words  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  “ I am  debtor 
both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  barbarians,  both  to  the  wise  and 
to  the  unwise ; so  much  as  in  me  is,  I am  ready  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  you  that  are  at  Borne  also;” — never,  perhaps,  since 
that  time,  more  than  during  the  past  ten  or  fifteen  years,  have 
the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ  put  forth  more  strenuous 
efforts  to  bring  into  disrepute  the  great  enterprize  for  the 
prosecution  of  which  the  Church  of  God  is  organized  and  ' 
established  upon  the  earth.  By  a variety  of  methods,  deriv- 
ing plausible  but  fallacious  argument,  sometimes  from  the  pre- 


4 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


tended  observations  of  travellers,  and  sometimes  from  pretended 
philosophical  considerations,  the  so-called  advocates  of  social 
reform  and  national  progress  have  violently  assailed  the  cause 
of  Christian  missions,  and,  with  attempted  proofs  of  mission- 
ary failure,  sought  to  lodge,  in  the  Christian  mind,  the  convic- 
tion that  the  labors  of  the  Church  in  this  cause,  are  not  only 
misdirected  but  altogether  unnecessary  and  unwarranted.  It 
has  been  vigorously  urged  that  the  Church  is  at  fault  in  her 
attempts  to  evangelize  the  heathen  by  mastering  their  different 
languages  and  dialects,  and  giving  them  the  gospel  therein, 
when  as  yet  they  have  not  been  lifted  up  from  their  social 
degradation  by  those  ordinary  processes  and  appliances  of  civili- 
zation which,  it  is  maintained,  are  pre-requisites  indispensable 
as  a foundation  for  successful  church  action. 

But  the  other  day,  when  casting  my  eyes  over  one  or  two 
of  the  more  popular  periodicals  of  Europe  and  America,  my 
attention  was  arrested  by  language  such  as  the  following:  “It 
is  questionable,”  says  one  writer,  “ whether  the  Church  has 
not  made  the  exclusive  idea  of  Christianity  too  prominent,  at 
the  first,  and  too  forcible  for  the  minds  of  the  heathen,  thereby 
defeating  the  good  sought  to  be  accomplished.”  “ Until  late- 
ly( ! ) ” says  another,  “ the  Church  proceeded  on  the  ground 
of  saving  souls  from  hell.  All  idolators  were  undoubtedly 
supposed  to  be  damned,  and  to  rescue  as  many  as  possible 
from  perdition  was  the  simple  object  of  her  missions.  Those, 
however,  who  do  not  believe  in  the  damnation  of  the  heathen, 
on  account  of  their  ignorance,  take  a wider  view  than  the  old 
missionaries,  with  the  hope  of  raising  whole  nations  out  of  a 
state  of  idolatrous  corruption  of  morals  into  a condition  of 
Christian  civilization.”  “ Nothing,”  says  a third,  when  refer- 
ring to  the  residence  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bettleheim  in  the  Loo 
Choo  Islands,  “nothing  can  atone  for  such  a complete  removal 
from  the  world  of  civilized  men.” 

Thus  it  is,  at  the  present  day,  that  first,  by  doubt,  then  by 
derision,  then  by  denial,  the  missionary  enterprize  is  insidiously 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


assailed  and  actually  pronounced  an  unpardonable  crime,  that 
for  which  there  can  be  no  atonement.  It  requires,  however, 
but  a moment  to  see  that,  upon  such  views  and  theories  as 
•hese,  nothing  whatever  could  atone  for  the  removal  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  himself,  down  from  the  heights  and  glory  of  heaven 
above  to  the  depths  of  human  degradation  beneath,  nothing 
atone  for  the  acceptance  of  humiliation*  on  his  part  in  order  to 
accomplish  the  great  errand  of  redeeming  love,  nothing  for 
submission  by  him  to  contempt  and  personal  suffering,  and  the 
endurance  of  that  state  of  poverty  which  left  him  without  a 
place  whereon  to  lay  his  head  ! Such  a mission  as  his,  to 
“save  souls  from  hell,”  is,  on  this  view,  utterly  unwarranted. 
Nazareth,  Bethlehem,  Jerusalem,  Judea,  Galilee,  Samaria,  the 
manger,  the  garden,  and  the  cross, — all  are  without  excuse, 
without  justification  ! 

But,  in  opposition  to  all  such  semi-infidel  and  rationalistic 
opinions,  we  have  the  clearest  and  most  indisputable  authority 
for  asserting  that  the  true  and  proper  work  of  the  Church  of 
God,  on  earth,  is  the  missionary  work.  It  is  the  work  of  the 
Father,  the  work  of  the  Son,  the  work  of  the  Iloly  Ghost. 
Upon  this  point  the  language  of  the  Scriptures  is  explicit.  In 
that  sublime  address  of  the  Eternal  Father  to  his  Son,  recorded 
by  Isaiah,  Jehovah  thus  speaks,  “ I the  Lord  have  called  thee 
in  righteousness  and  will  hold  thine  hand,  and  will  keep  thee, 
and  give  thee  for  a covenant  of  the  people,  for  a light  of  the 
Gentiles,  to  open  blind  eye's,  to  bring  out  the  prisoner  from 
the  prison,  and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  out  of  the  prison- 
house.”  “I  will  give  thee  fora  light  of  the  Gentiles,  that  thou 
mayest  be  my  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.”  Thus  was 
the  Father  engaged  in  the  work  of  missions  in  the  counsels  of 
eternity,  pre-arranging  all  the  steps  of  grace  whereby,  in  due 
time,  he  should  send  his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world  that 
whosoever  believes  upon  him  might  not  perish  but  have  life. 
God  sent  his  Son  into  the  world.  And  in  strict  accordance 
with  this  it  is  that  Christ  himself  speaks : “ The  Lord  possessed 


6 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


me  in  the  beginning  of  his  way,  before  his  works  of  old.  I 
was  set  up  from  everlasting,  from  the  beginning,  or  ever  the 
earth  was.”  It  is  in  the  Father,  the  Original  Source  of  all 
things,  we  find  the  fountain  and  spring-head  of  missionary 
spirit  and  missionary  love.  “ In  this  was  manifested  the  love 
of  God  towards  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only-begotten 
Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through  him.”  “ God 
sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that 
the  world  through  him  might  be  saved.”  Here,  too,  we  discover 
the  missionary  obedience  of  the  Son  himself.  “ I came  down 
from  heaven,”  said  he,  “not  to  do  mine  own  will,  but  the  will 
of  him  that  sent  me.  And  this  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent 
me,  that  every  one  which  seeth  the  Son  and  believeth  on  him, 
may  have  everlasting  life,  and  I will  raise  him  up  at  the  last 
day.”  And  just  as  the  Saviour  was  sent  by  the  Father,  so  did 
He  in  turn,  send  his  Church  on  earth  to  carry  forward  the 
great  work  of  the  salvation  of  sinful  men.  “ As  thou  hast  sent 
me  into  the  world,  even  so  have  I also  sent  them  into  the 
world.”  From  the  diadem  of  brilliant  titles  which  sat  upon 
his  own  matchless  and  beaming  brow,  he  selected  some  to  place 
upon  the  heads  of  his  disciples,  that  men  might  see  that  He 
and  they  together  were  engaged  in  one  and  the  same  glorious 
work,  the  work  of  diffusing  the  light  of  salvation  around  souls 
shrouded  in  the  darkness  of  sin.  He  who  is  the  “Licrht  of  the 

O 

world,”  said  to  his  Church,  in  the  persons  of  his  Apostles,  “ Ye 
are  the  light  of  the  world.”  He  who  is  “ the  Amen,  the  faith- 
ful and  true  witness,”  declared  to  them,  “ Ye  shall  be  witnesses 
unto  me,  both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria, 
and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.”  And  when  about 
to  withdraw  himself  from  their  immediate  presence,  then  and 
there  did  lie  invest  them  formally  with  the  gospel  and  mission- 
ary functions  pertaining  to  himself,  binding  them,  by  his  su- 
preme authority,  to  the  exercise  of  the  same,  throughout  all 
coming  time  ; “ All  power  is  given  unto  me,  in  heaven  and  in 
earth,  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


7 


in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I have  com- 
manded you,  and  lol  I am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world.”  To  render  effectual  this  divine  commission,  lie 
graciously  promised  to  his  Church  the  gift  and  indwelling  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  whom,  in  the  fullness  of  his  powerful  energy, 
as  a couvincer  of  sin,  righteousness  and  judgment,  He  was 
about  to  send,  after  He  had  seated  himself,  throned  in  glory, 
upon  the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  on  high. 

But  while,  on  the  one  hand,  the  justification  of  the  church, 
in  prosecuting  the  missionary  enterprise,  is  found  in  the  design 
of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit,  as  also  in  the  proximate  com- 
mand of  Christ,  and  the  gift  to  the  church  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
it  is,  on  the  other  hand,  moreover  found  in  the  inner  harmony, 
the  spiritual  oneness  of  the  church  herself  with  Christ  her 
Head.  United  to  Him  by  divine  and  indissoluble  bonds  of 
faith  and  love,  her  spiritual  life  ripens  into  one  common  pur- 
pose with  His  own.  Sent  from  the  Father,  through  the  Son, 
the  Holy  Ghost  inhabits  the  humanity  of  all  believers,  forming 
Jesus  within  them,  the  hope  of  glory ; thus  identifying  all  the 
parties  in  a blessed  and  heavenly  unity  of  life,  love,  and  work, 
— “ I in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  all  may  be  one  in  us.” 
Thus  is  it  that  believers  are  possessed  of  God,  and  inflamed 
with  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  Thus  is  it  that,  in  their  union  to 
Jesus,  they  are,  though  not  meritoriously,  yet  imitatively  and 
practically,  and  in  some  sense  mediatively,  inaugurated  into 
the  offices  of  Christ,  as  prophets,  priests,  and  kings,  teaching 
sinful  men  the  will  of  God  for  their  salvation ; offering  their 
bodies  and  souls  living  sacrifices  unto  God,  but  in  behalf  of 
their  fellow-men,  for  whom  they  live,  and  labor,  and  pray,  and 
ruling,  through  divine  grace,  by  the  influence  of  their  conduct 
over  the  hearts  of  men.  In  other  words,  the  missionary  char- 
acter of  the  church  is  the  inevitable  and  legitimate  result  of 
the  missionary  character  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  a character  not 
simply  as  consequent  upon  an  outward  and  formal  investiture 


8 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


of  the  church  with  evangelistic  functions,  nor  merely  depend- 
ing on  an  authoritative  commission,  but  flowing  forth,  by  irre- 
sistible necessity,  from  that  spiritual  union  to  Christ,  whereby 
she  partakes  of  His  life  and  shares  in  His  work.  Christ  and 
believers  are  one.  They  are  but  the  perpetuation  of  the  Sav- 
iour on  earth  in  the  form  of  his  mystical  body,  humbled,  it  is 
true,  as  was  once  the  divine  Head,  now  glorious  in  heaven. 
To  appropriate  the  beautiful  words  of  another,  “ In  the  church, 
the  Lord  speaks  words  of  truth  and  consolation  to  fallen  man. 
In  and  through  her  He  heals  the  sick,  raises  the  dead,  distrib- 
utes the  heavenly  manna,  gives  himself,  as  spiritual  food,  to 
the  hungry  soul.  In  her  are  repeated  his  sufferings  and  death  ; 
and  in  her,  too,  are  continually  celebrated  anew  His  resurrec- 
tion and  ascension,  and  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In 
her  militant  state,  like  her  Head  in  the  days  of  His  humilia- 
tion, she  bears  the  form  of  a servant.  She  is  hated,  despised, 
and  mocked  by  the  ungodly  world.  But  from  this  lowly  form 
beams  forth  a divine  radiance,  “ the  glory  as  of  the  only-begot- 
ten of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth.”  Redemptive  and 
illuminative,  she  is  like  her  Master.  Apostolicity,  in  the  wid- 
est and  most  comprehensive  sense,  is  her  crowning  attribute. 
It  was  breathed  into  her  soul  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  Her 
authority  to  u Go,  teach  all  nations,”  was  no  sooner  announced 
than  it  found  a waiting  response  in  the  inwardly-felt  and  upris- 
ing welcome  of  a bosom  filled  with  love  to  the  Saviour.  She 
already  coveted  a work  the  same  as  His  own,  even  to  seek  and 
save  the  lost.  The  celestial  impulse  which  moved  her  onward, 
in  the  toil  of  human  salvation,  was  the  Spirit  that  dwelt  in  the 
person  of  Jesus.  The  complementary  grace  necessary  to  an- 
swer the  outward  divine  commission,  He  shed  upon  her  heart, 
so  that  she  could  not  but  do  what  the  lips  of  her  Lord  had 
commanded. 

Having  thus  vindicated  the  church  of  God  from  the  re- 
proach of  folly  cast  upon  her  by  those  who,  in  the  disguises  of 
hypocrisy,  feign  themselves  friends  of  the  ultimate  object  of 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


9 


her  endeavor,  while  they  deride  the  means  by  which  she  seeks 
to  secure  it,  allow  me  to  pass  on  and  say  that,  just  in  proportion 
as  the  church  has  been  true  to  the  missionary  spirit  has  she 
prospered  in  the  world,  and  just  in  proportion  as  she  has 
proved  faithless  to  this  great  principle  of  her  organization,  has 
she  forfeited  the  divine  blessing  and  experienced  adverse  tor- 
tune.  Ecclesiastical  history,  whether  as  recorded  by  inspired 
or  uninspired  pens,  is  a witness  of  the  correctness  of  this  state- 
ment. The  moral  power  of  the  church,  in  primitive  apostolic 
times,  is  a theme  of  familiar  eulogy  among  all  the  heralds  of 
the  Cross.  Fresh  with  descending  grace  upon  her,  tilled  with 
love  to  Christ,  and  moved  with  pity  for  a perishing  world,  she 
went  forth  in  the  true  spirit  of  missionary  enterprise  to  bless 
mankind.  Full  of  sacrifice  and  self-denial,  consecrating  her 
property,  comfort,  riches,  ease,  influence,  energy,  and  life  itself, 
upon  the  altar  of  her  devotion  to  Christ,  she  attracted  to  her 
bosom  the  present  and  conscious  reward  of  a faithful  servant, 
and  won  for  herself  those  amazing  victories,  the  record  ot 
which  adorns  the  pages  of  inspiration.  Her  progress  was  sig- 
nalized by  the  strewing  of  her  path  with  monuments  of  tri- 
umph and  trophies  of  the  most  glorious  success.  One  after 
another  the  gods  of  the  heathen  fell  from  their  pedestals  be- 
fore her.  One  after  another  Pagan  temples  crumbled  into 
dust.  The  bloody  altars  of  superstition  were  overthrown  ; the 
hallowed  shrines  and  oracles  grew  mute ; the  institutions  of 
the  laud  surrendered  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Cross  ; and  career- 
ing onward  in  her  majestic  and  heavenly  course,  multiplying 
her  converts  and  her  power,  she  ceased  not  until  mounting  the 
imperial  throne  she  robed  herself  in  the  purple  of  the  Caesars, 
and  interweaving  the  Ten  Commandments  of  God  and  the  Ser- 
mon  on  the  Mount,  with  the  code  of  Theodosius,  gave  Chris- 
tian Law  to  the  world  ! 

How  different  her  history  when  we  turn  to  the  record  of 
some  of  her  subsequent  periods ! From  the  moment  the 
church  became  careless  of  the  great  missionary  law  of  her  or- 


10 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


ganization,  the  character  of  her  existence,  and  the  pledge  of 
her  prosperity,  violating  that  upon  which  the  preservation  of 
her  life  and  health  depended,  we  discover  the  symptoms  of 
rapid  decline.  When  the  church  lost  sight  of  her  expansive 
character,  smothered  in  her  breast  the  attribute  of  love  for 
souls,  and  ceased  to  be  aggressive  for  Christ,  then  it  was  she 
began  to  experience  the  loss  of  her  moral  power,  together  with 
the  conquered  ground  acquired  by  her  former  zeal.  When, 
lured  from  her  duty  by  the  temptations  of  the  world,  she  com- 
promised so  much  of  her  warrior-character  as  to  agree  not  to 
be  aggressive,  or  when  confident  and  satisfied  she  rested  from 
her  toils  and  her  sacrifices  to  find  enjoyment  in  the  retrospect 
of  past  achievements,  or  when  the  spirit  of  worldly-mindedness 
and  sordid  selfishness  gained  access  to  her  heart  and  closed  the 
hand  of  Christian  liberality,  or  when,  complacent  in  prosperity 
and  blessed  with  abundance,  she  thought  only  of  herself,  and 
left  the  world  to  perish  or  find  its  life  elsewhere  than  from 
her,  then  it  was  that,  for  these  departures  from  the  express  pur- 
pose of  her  constitution,  for  these  infractions  of  her  organic 
law  of  growth  and  expansion,  she  felt  a frightful  recession  from 
her  high  position,  a decrease  of  her  spiritual  might  and  effi- 
ciency, and  a marked  diminution  of  her  numbers.  Discord 
and  strife  began  to  utter  their  cries  within  the  pale  of  her  com- 
munion, and  the  very  energies  with  which  God  had  endowed 
her  for  the  conquest  of  the  world,  were  turned  in  upon  herself 
only  to  distract  and  destroy.  Ceasing  to  move  forward  to  vic- 
tory, she  became  the  prey  of  her  enemies.  Renouncing  her 
lofty  trust  as  the  almoner  of  Christ’s  bounty  in  the  work  of 
grace,  to  perishing  men,  she  became  the  extortioner  of  the 
world.  Prosperity  forsook  her  and  left  her  to  the  curse  of  her 
own  withholdings,  and  the  mildew  and  blight  of  Jehovah’s 
displeasure  settled  down  upon  her.  The  history  of  the  Seven 
Churches  of  Asia ; that,  too,  of  Geneva,  the  fortress  once  and 
stronghold  of  evangelic  doctrine, — and  the  startling  record 
that,  because  of  the  check  which  the  Great  Reformation  re- 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


11 


ceived,  no  nation  on  earth  that  did  not  adopt  the  gospel  princi- 
ples of  that  mighty  movement  previous  to  the  close  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  lias  ever  adopted  them  since,  are  proofs  enough, 
if  others  are  wanted  than  those  before  our  eyes,  to  illustrate 
and  seal  the  truth,  that  only  in  earnest,  constant,  untiring,  mis- 
sionary and  aggressive  zeal,  the  prosperity  of  the  church  of  God 
on  earth  is  to  be  found. 

But  I proceed  to  mention  that,  though  there  is  much  to  be 
regretted,  as  the  missionary  history  of  the  church  passes  under 
close  review,  still  there  is  much,  very  much,  for  which  to  give 
thanks  as  we  look  at  what  has  indeed  been  accomplished. 
The  great  enterprise  of  Christian  missions  has  not  been  a fail- 
ure. Modern  Protestant  missions  may  safely  be  said  to  date 
from  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  Their  history  is 
about  that  of  sixty  years,  or  a little  more.  The  apostolic  spirit 
was  arrested  by  the  early  corruptions  and  crimes  of  the  church 
in  consecpience  of  her  amazing  prosperity,  too  unwisely  enjoyed 
when  possessed,  her  wealth,  power,  ambition,  and  increasing 
conformity  to  the  world.  Fortunate  for  the  time  as  was  the 
union  of  Church  and  State,  under  Constantine  in  the  fourth 
century,  and  many  as  were  the  advantages  reaped  by  the 
church  from  this  union,  still  it  but  prepared  the  way  for  eccle- 
siastical corruption  and  spiritual  decline,  as  also  defection  from 
doctrinal  truth.  From  this  epoch  unto  the  period  of  the  Re- 
formation we  have  an  ecclesiastical  history,  the  records  of 
which  show  more  of  controversy,  contention,  wealth  and  cor- 
ruption, than  they  do  of  pure,  simple  apostolic  devotion  to  the 
work  of  saving  souls.  Not  indeed  that  a brilliant  exception  is 
nowhere  to  be  found.  Nor  indeed  that  the  missionary  spirit 
had  altogether  slumbered  in  the  bosom  of  the  church.  Every 
intermediate  century  shows  the  diffusion  of  at  least  a nominal 
Christianity  in  the  different  parts  of  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa. 
The  chief  instrumentality,  however,  by  which  it  was  propa- 
gated, was  worldly  policy  in  connection  with  martial  power,  a 
spirit  which  seems  to  have  been  impressed  upon  the  church 


12 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


from  the  days  of  Constantine,  the  first  Christian  Emperor  of 
Rome.  The  results  of  this  policy  were  territorial  aggrandize- 
ment and  nominal  submission  to  ecclesiastico-political  authority. 
The  unavoidable  consecpience  of  this  mode  of  propagating  the 
religion  of  Christ  was  the  still  greater  worldliness  of  the 
church,  and  the  still  greater  corruption  of  doctrine,  practice, 
and  worship.  Ages  of  spiritual  darkness  began  to  roll  over 
the  world. 

The  seventeenth  century  was  an  age  of  missionary  prepara- 
tion and  promise.  The  open  Bible  which  the  Reformation  had 
given  to  the  church,  and  the  new  impulse  imparted  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  many  of  His  people,  together  with  the  death- 
stroke  that  fell  upon  that  corrupt  system  which,  organized 
within  the  precincts  of  the  church,  sought  to  establish  only  a 
merely  nominal  Christianity  by  the  power  of  fire,  sword,  and 
torture,  called  into  being  the  dawn  of  a fresh  hope  for  the 
nations  of  the  earth  sitting  in  the  regions  of  darkness  and 
shadow  of  death.  It  is  about  this  time  we  begin  to  read  the 
names  of  Mayhew  and  Eliot,  Guericke  and  Swartz,  the  fore- 
runners of  a few  such  spirits  as  Brainard  and  Sargeant  in  the 
beginning  of  the  succeeding  century.  In  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury we  meet,  in  our  researches,  the  record  of  the  organization 
of  various  Protestant  missionary  associations,  of  feeble  strength 
it  is  true,  but  yet  heralds  of  the  missionary  spirit  about  to  burst 
forth  with  unusual  brightness  and  heat,  in  approaching  years. 
Such  were,  the  “ Baptist  Missionary  Society,”  the  “ London 
Missionary  Society,”  and  the  “ Edinburg  Missionary  Society.” 
Others  also  of  minor  importance  appeared  about  the  same  time. 

The  beginning,  however,  of  the  present  century,  the  year  a.  d. 
1800,  marks  the  epoch  of  modern  missions.  It  is  about  this 
time  we  meet  with  the  names  of  Gutzlaff  and  Carey  and  Vau- 
derkemp,  Buchanan  and  Mills,  Judson  and  Martyn  and  Ileber, 
all  illustrious  on  the  scroll  of  missionary  fame.  At  this  time, 
too,  Missionary  and  Bible  Societies  are  organized  and  multi- 
plied wherever  the  Church  of  God  is  awakened,  and  under  the 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


13 


descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  midst  of  the  world’s  convul- 
sions, the  inauguration  afresh  of  that  great  work  which  is  des- 
tined to  fill  the  earth  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  is  commenced.  The  church  prays.  God  hears.  Mission- 
aries are  sent  forth.  The  Spirit  attends  them.  Souls  are 
saved.  The  salvation  of  the  world  begins  to  appear. 

And  what  has  the  Christian  church  accomplished  during 
this  period  ? Much,  every  way,  notwithstanding  all  her  diffi- 
culties and  trials,  and  derelictions  of  duty.  We  are  wont  to 
speak  in  praise,  and  very  justly  too,  of  the  period  of  apostolic 
Christianity,  as  one  preeminent  in  ardent  missionary  zeal,  and 
one  to  be  paralleled,  if  possible,  by  the  church  in  all  ages. 
And  yet,  without  the  least  disparagement  of  apostolic  zeal  and 
the  primitive  spirit  of  Christian  self-sacrifice,  we  may  safely  say, 
though  the  church  has  fallen  short  of  her  duty,  though  she  en- 
joys facilities  such  as  the  apostles  had  not,  though  they  encoun- 
tered opposition  such  as  we  do  not  meet,  and  though  our  victo- 
ries might  have  been  multiplied  a hundred  fold  had  we  only 
been  more  devoted  and  faithful,  yet  a comparison  of  the  results  of 
missionary  labor,  in  its  modern  era,  with  those  of  apostolic  labor 
immediately  succeeding  the  ascension  of  Christ,  will  afford  us 
abundant  cause  of  thanksgiving  to  God,  and  furnish  renewed 
and  powerful  encouragement  to  press  on,  heart  and  soul,  in  the 
great  work  Christ  has  given  us  to  do.  Take,  then,  the  period 
of  sixty  years  from  the  ascension  of  the  Saviour  into  heaven, 
and  compare  it  with  the  equal  chronological  period  of  sixty 
years  from  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  mark  the 
results.  It  has  been  computed  by  several  of  our  foreign  mis- 
sionaries, most  reliable  in  every  way,  that  the  result  of  apos- 
tolic labor  during  the  sixty  years  succeeding  the  departure  of 
Christ,  was  the  conversion  to  him  of  about  one  million 
(1,000,000)  of  souls,  or  an  increase  of  about  16,666  souls 
every  year  to  the  church,  in  all  the  various  fields  of  Christian 
labor.  This  is  indeed  a monument  to  the  mercy  and  the  grace 
of  Christ. 


14 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


And  what  lias  the  church  to  show,  of  success,  under  the  bles- 
sing of  her  divine  Head,  during  the  sixty  years  of  her  labor, 
since  the  modern  Protestant  era  of  missions  was  inaugurated  ? 
Perhaps,  previous  to  the  year  1800,  though  the  seed  of  God’s 
word  had  been  sown  in  many  places,  hardly  a soul  was  known  to 
be  converted  to  Christ,  or  but  very  few,  as  a result  of  missionary 
effort.  Dr.  Carey  had  gone  to  India,  and  a few'  others  had  fol- 
lowed him.  Some  had  sailed  for  the  South  Sea  Islands.  Twro 
had  gone  to  Africa,  and  two  to  the  West  Indies.  The  rest  of 
the  world  was  an  awful  blank  ! But  look  now  ! How  changed 
the  scene ! The  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  have  been 
made  glad,  the  desert  has  rejoiced  and  blossomed  as  the  rose. 
It  has  blossomed  abundantly  and  rejoiced  even  with  joy  and 
singing.  The  glory  of  Lebanon  has  been  given  to  it,  and  the  ex- 
cellency of  Carmel  and  Sharon  ! According  to  the  most  accu- 
rate and  recent  computations,  in  India  there  are  112,000  native 
Christians,  and  the  empire  more  open  than  ever  before  to  the 
diffusion  of  the  gospel.  In  Burmah  110,000  Karens  rejoice  in 
the  light  of  divine  truth  shed  upon  their  soids  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  word.  In  Africa  there  are  250,000  native  converts 
in  those  habitations  of  cruelty  where,  at  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  the  Hottentot,  the  Fingoe,  and  the  Kaffre,  Avere  hunted 
down  like  the  beasts  of  the  field.  Of  Negroes  in  the  West 
Indies  and  America,  there  are  340,000  under  the  care  of  Chris- 
tian pastors,  catechists,  and  teachers,  emancipated,  wTe  trust 
from  a more  than  merely  human  slavery,  and  blessed  with  the 
freedom  that  is  in  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  Sandwich  Islands  there 
are  80,000,  almost  the  entire  native  population,  professedly 
converted  to  Christ,  the  Sabbath  day  being  observed  better 
there  than  it  is  in  Brooklyn,  or  in  New  York,  or  in  Philadelphia, 
or  in  London,  or  Edinburg,  or  in  any  great  commercial  city  or 
metropolis  in  this  or  any  other  land,  and  the  Bible  itself  taken 
as  the  standard  of  the  civil  code  and  social  manners.  In  New 
Zealand  there  are  100,000  native  Christians.  In  other  islands, 
laved  by  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  ocean,  the  Georgian,  the 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


15 


Friendly,  and  the  Society  isles,  there  are  70,000  more.  In  the 
South  Sea  Islands,  where  the  missionaries  followed  the  track  of 
Captain  Cook  until  island  after  island  and  tribe  after  tribe 
threw  away  their  idols  to  the  moles  and  the  bats,  there  are 
200,000  souls  who  have  bowed  to  Jesus  Christ  and  crowned 
Him  Lord  of  all.  In  China,  where  only  seventeen  years  ago 
the  ports  of  the  empire  were  open  to  missionary  work,  there 
are  now  3,000  Chinese  Christians,  and  80  Protestant  mission- 
aries, while  province  after  province  is  being  revolutionized 
from  idolatry,  and  that  vast  territory  prepared  in  the  most 
amazing  manner  for  the  reception  of  the  gospel.  In  the  island 
of  Madagascar,  where  twenty  years  ago  native  and  other 
Christians  were  either  poisoned,  burned,  or  driven  into  the  sea 
until  ’ but  fifty  who  loved  Christ  were  left  behind,  there  are 
now  more  than  5,000  native  converts,  the  fruit  of  that  martyr 
blood  which  is  ever  the  seed  of  the  church.  Between  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates,  on  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia,  once  the 
dwelling-place  of  Abraham  the  father  of  the  faithful,  long 
given  over  to  superstitious  belief,  there  are  6,000  more  re- 
claimed from  error  to  faith  in  the  Promised  Seed,  in  whom  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  are  to  be  blessed. 

Other  examples  might  be  adduced  and  the  list  enlarged,  but 
these  are  sufficient  to  illustrate  our  statement.  One  million 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  souls  (1,250,000)  have  been 
attracted  to  Christ  during  the  last  sixty  years  of  missionary 
labor,  who,  but  for  this,  must  have  been  cast  into  the  gloom  of 
outer  darkness,  and  must  have  sunk  into  the  depths  of  eternal 
woe  1 All  this  is  exclusive  of  those  who,  in  foreign  lands  have, 
during  this  time,  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus,  and  whose  flesh  now 
rests  in  hope.  Besides  these,  there  are  now  in  the  field  1,600 
foreign  missionaries,  who  are  laboring  with  16,000  native 
preachers,  catechists,  and  teacher’s.  The  Bible,  too,  is  trans- 
lated into  more  than  150  languages  and  dialects,  and  a distri- 
bution  in  these  has  been  made  of  more  than  40,000,000  of 
copies,  throughout  the  world,  whereas  at  the  beginning  of  the 


16 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


present  century  not  more  than  4,000,000  could  have  been 
found  in  the  whole  earth.  Thus  the  bread  of  life  has  been 
multiplied.  Thus  souls  have  been  saved.  Thus  there  has 
been  a yearly  increase  to  the  church  of  God,  among  the  hea- 
then, since  the  era  of  modern  Protestant  missions  began,  of 
20,833,  leaving  entirely  out  of  consideration  the  whole  number 
of  converts  in  Christian  lands.  Surely  then,  when  wre  com- 
pare the  success  of  the  church  now  with  that  of  the  apostolic 
times,  during  the  equal  period  of  trial  for  both,  there  is  noth- 
ing whatever  to  discourage,  but  on  the  contrary  abundance  to 
cause  us  to  magnify  the  grace  of  God,  and  to  take  encourage- 
ment for  still  more  earnest  and  believing  effort  for  the  future. 
God  is  graciously  fulfilling  His  promise  to  His  people,  and 
keeping  his  covenant  with  Christ,  rewarding  Him  for  the  tra- 
vail of  His  soul.  His  voice  to  His  church  is  in  mercy,  love, 
and  encouragement.  He  bids  her  rejoice.  He  calls  to  her 
and  says,  “ Lift  up  thine  eyes  round  about  and  behold.  All 
these  gather  themselves  together  and  come  to  thee.  As  I live, 
saith  the  Lord,  thou  shalt  surely  clothe  thee  with  them  all  as 
with  an  ornament,  and  bind  them  on  thee  as  a bride  doeth. 
Then  shalt  thou  say  in  thine  heart,  Who  hath  begotten  me 
these?  ” No  ! the  missionary  enterprise  is  not  a failure ! 

But  there  is  another  view  of  this  mighty  work,  fathers  and 
brethren,  which  justice  to  ourselves,  to  the  world,  and  to  God, 
requires  us  seriously  to  take.  I have  spoken  thus  far  of  encour- 
agements, of  glorious  successes,  and  grounds  for  rejoicing.  Let 
us  not  think,  however,  that  the  missionary  work  of  the  church 
is  almost  done.  The  thought  of  1,250,000  heathen  souls  re- 
deemed to  Christ  during  the  past  sixty  years,  is  indeed  a 
thought  well  calculated  to  awaken  gratitude  towards  God, 
and  thankfulness  that  our  prayers  and  labors  have  not  been  in 
vain.  There  is  enough  here  to  assure  us  that  the  promise  of 
Christ  and  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  have  been  made  good,  and 
still  are  made  good  to  the  church.  But  what  are  1,250,000 
souls  in  comparison  with  the  population  of  the  world  \ As  a 


A.  MISSION  ARY  ADDRESS. 


17 


drop  in  the  bucket ; as  the  light  dust  of  the  balance  ! What 
are  they  compared  with  the  population  of  India  alone  ? In  that 
vast  empire  there  are  180,000,000  of  Hindus  and  Mohamme- 
dans alone  ! All  the  converts  to  Christianity  from  all  portions 
of  the  heathen  world,  bear  to  the  remaining  heathen,  in  India 
alone,  the  proportion  of  but  1 to  152  ! There  are  112,000  con- 
verts in  India,  i.  e .,  1-1 600th  part  of  the  population  of  the 
empire,  or,  in  other  words,  the  religion  of  Christ  is  to  heathen- 
ism and  Mohammedism  in  that  one  empire  as  1 is  to  1600  ! 
What  are  3,000  converts,  in  China,  to  nearly  360,000,000  yet 
unconverted,  and  wrho  inhabit  that  vast  land  ? As  1 to  12  3,000  ! 
What  are  250,000  to  the  89,000,000  of  Africa?  And  yet 
more,  what  is  all  Christendom  in  comparison  with  all  Heathen- 
dom ? 

John  Wesley,  in  his  sermon  on  the  “ Great  Assize,”  calcu- 
lated the  population  of  the  earth,  in  his  day,  to  be  about 

400.000. 000, — evidently  a calculation  falling  much  below  the 
reality.  Dr.  John  Dick,  of  Glasgow,  eminent  both  in  science 
and  religion,  calculated  the  number  to  be  just  double  that  of 
Wesley,  namely,  800,000,000.  One  more  recent  than  Dr.  Dick, 
computed  it  at  about  900,000,000.  The  most  reliable  compu- 
tation, however,  is  that  of  M.  Dietrici,  General  Director  of  Sta- 
tistics in  Berlin,  wdio,  availing  himself  of  information  derived 
not  only  from  the  most  recent  and  authorized  statistics  of  the 
world,  but  also  from  large  acquaintance  and  correspondence 
with  home  and  foreign  State  ministers,  has  calculated,  during 
the  last  year,  that  the  existing  population  of  our  globe  num- 
bers one  billion,  tivo  hundred  and  eighty-three  millions  of  souls , 

1.283.000. 000  ! — estimating  the  billion  at  a thousand  millions, 
according  to  the  French  method  of  numeration  in  use  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  and  in  the  United  States,  and  not  a mil- 
lion of  millions  according  to  the  English  method.  Of  this 
number  there  are  in  Europe  272,000,000 ; in  Asia  720,000,000  ; 
in  America  200,000,000 ; in  Africa  89,000,000 ; and  in  Aus- 
tralia 2,000,000. 


18 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


And  what  proportion  of  this  vast  multitude,  these  twelve 
hundred  and  eighty -three  millions  of  souls,  are  Christians? 
There  are,  in  the  world,  according  to  the  most  probable 
and  reliable  computation,  Jews  8,000,000 ; Mohammedans, 

120.000. 000;  Pagans  880,000,000;  and  Nominal  Christians 

275.000. 000.  This  last  number,  we  must  bear  in  mind,  in- 
cludes all  the  Greek  Church,  all  the  Armenians  and  Nestori- 
ans,  all  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  all  the  Protestant  deno- 
minations, orthodox  and  heretical,  and  the  entire  'population 
living  in  those  countries  which  are  nominally  Christian,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  heathen : England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Amer- 
ica, France,  Germany,  Russia,  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  etc.,  etc., 
making  in  all  not  quite  one-fifth  of  the  world’s  population. 

But  what  proportion  of  these  275,000,000  of  persons  in 
nominally  Christian  lands,  are  the  true  disciples  of  Christ?  Of 
Romanists  there  are  135,000,000;  of  Greek  50,000,000;  of 
Armenians  and  Nestorians  5,000,000 ; and  Protestants  85,000,- 
000,  this  last  number  including  all , whether  professing  religion 
or  not,  those  of  some  religious  faith,  true  or  false,  those  of  no 
religious  faith,  sceptics  and  infidels.  IIow  many  of  these  are 
truly  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  ? If  we  say  one-twentietli 
of  the  whole  number,  (and  this  seems  a large  allowance)  then 
there  are  not  quite  14,000,000  of  real  Christians  in  existence. 
And  how  many  of  these  are  cold  and  inactive  in  the  service 
of  Christ ! But  if  we  believe  the  declaration  of  the  Scriptures, 
then  Judaism,  Mohammedism,  Paganism,  Popery,  and  Infidelity 
are  all  to  give  way  before  the  power  of  the  Cross  of  Christ, 
and  a time  come  when  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
shall  cover  the  earth,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  So  that, 
according  to  the  present  population  of  the  globe,  there  are 
altogether,  including  unbelievers  in  Christian  as  well  as  heathen 
lands,  twelve  hundred  and  seventy-four  millions,  1,274,000,000, 
of  souls  yet  unconverted  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus ! And 
for  the  accomplishment  of  their  salvation,  instrumentally,  there 
are,  according  to  the  liberal  allowance  of  one-twentieth  just 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


10 


made,  14,000,000  of  truly  converted  persons,  three-fourths  of 
whom,  certainly,  are  lukewarm,  uninterested  and  idle  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord,  leaving  about  three  millions,  3.000,000, 
in  all  the  world,  to  engage  actively  in  advancing  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  and  leading  sinners  to  the  Saviour ! In  view  of  all 
these  considerations,  well  may  we  exclaim  “ Who  is  sufficient 
for  these  things?”  How  mighty  is  the  task  ! how  stupendous 
the  undertaking ! What  gigantic  proportions  does  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise  assume,  as  we  think  of  the  millions  upon 
millions  in  the  world,  who  in  heathen  lands,  have  not  yet 
learned  the  name  of  Jesus,  not  to  mention  the  millions  more  in 
Christian  lauds,  who  hear  it  with  indifference,  dislike,  or  hatred! 
What  prayer!  what  labor!  what  expense!  what  self-denial ! what 
patience,  and  faith,  and  love,  and  hope  are  required ! And  as 
we  contemplate  the  multiplied  obstacles  that  stand  in  the  path 
of  missionary  progress,  the  natural  opposition  of  all  mankind, 
immemorial  idolatries,  savage  customs,  false  philosophies,  des- 
potic political  organizations,  and  all  that  Satan,  the  world,  and 
the  carnal  heart  can  array  against  the  gospel  of  Christ,  it  is,  to 
human  apprehension,  folly  and  madness  to  urge  upon  the 
Church  the  duty  of  addressing  herself  to  a work  the  dimen- 
sions of  which  are  so  unparalleled  and  prodigious,  and  the 
difficulties  of  which  are  so  apparently  unconquerable  and  ap- 
palling as  these.  So  impossible  does  it  seem  to  the  eye  of  car- 
nal reason,  that  the  world  should,  one  day,  be  converted  to 
Christ,  and  so  much  does  the  mind  stagger  back,  overborne  by 
the  contemplation  of  the  thought,  that  mental  relief  is  only 
obtained  by  the  present  relinquishment  of  all  hope. 

Nevertheless,  the  glorious  work  shall  be  triumphantly  and 
magnificently  accomplished.  Leaving  out  of  consideration  the 
various  and  conflicting  theories  built  upon  various  views  of  the 
order  in  which  prophecy  is  to  be  fulfilled,  and  the  method  by 
which  predicted  events  are  to  be  grouped,  the  fact  is  beyond 
all  contradiction  that  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
shall  cover  the  earth  as  do  the  waters  the  sea.  In  Christ,  the 


20 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


promised  Seed,  in  whom  all  the  families  of  the  earth  are  to  he 
blessed,  the  assurance  given  to  Abraham,  the  father  of  the 
faithful,  that  he  should  be  the  “ heir  of  the  world,”  finds  its 
fulfilment.  The  covenant  of  grace  secures  the  world  to  Christ. 
God’s  promises  have  pledged  it,  Christ’s  blood  has  bought  it. 
The  heathen  are  already  given  to  Christ  for  His  inheritance, 
and  already  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  are  His  possession, 
in  purpose,  in  promise,  in  fact,  though  not  yet  in  the  universal 
diffusion  of  His  grace,  nor  universal  display  of  his  glory.  But 
the  time  hastens  on,  amid  judgments  and  mercies  intermingled, 
when  graciously  and  gloriously  too,  He  shall  have  dominion  in 
the  hearts  of  men  “ from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.”  “ All  kings  shall  fall  down  before  Him  ; 
all  nations  shall  serve  Him.”  “ Men  shall  be  blessed  in  Him  ; all 
nations  shall  call  Him  blessed.”  “ All  His  enemies  shall  be  put 
under  His  feet.”  All  systems  of  error,  oppression,  iniquity,  ir- 
religion,  false  religion,  superstition,  and  idolatry,  all  obstacles, 
shall  be  entirely  removed.  Judaism,  Mohammedism,  Pagan- 
ism, Popery,  and  Infidelity,  with  every  corrupt  practice  and 
policy  in  the  governments,  institutions,  and  kingdoms  of  men, 
shall  utterly  disappear,  and  the  one  glorious  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ  be  established  over  all  the  world,  and  embrace  mankind. 
The  promise  is  explicit,  “Every  valley  shall  be  exalted,  and 
every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  made  low,  and  the  crooked 
shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh  shall  see  it  to- 
gether, for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it.”  “As  I 
live,  saith  the  Lord,  the  whole  earth  shall  be  filled  with  My 
glory.”  Here  are  God’s  averment  and  oath,  and  heaven  and 
earth,  and  all  that  ever  God  made  in  them,  shall  sooner  pass 
away,  than  one  jot  or  tittle  of  what  He  has  said  shall  fail ! To 
Jesus  Christ,  every  knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  confess  ! 
Though  the  work  is  stupendous,  and  human  instrumentalities 
are  weak,  and  human  hearts  are  cold,  still  the  promises  of  God 
are  unfailing,  and  the  power  of  God  is  all-mighty.  Upon  these, 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


21 


the  Church,  as  the  ordained  evangelist  of  the  world,  goes  forth 
depending,  and  in  her  holy  progress,  reaps  the  present  earnest 
of  a future,  glorious  and  complete  success.  If  hut  sixty  years 
have  accomplished  so  much  already,  since  the  modern  mission- 
ary work  began,  what  may  not  be  accomplished  before  the 
close  of  the  present  century  ? And  if,  as  we  are  entitled  to 
believe,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  to  be  poured  out  in  mighty,  copious, 
and  continuous  effusion,  in  the  last  days,  more  abundant  in 
times  of  refreshing  and  restitution  than  ever  before,  what 
amazing  results  may  we  not  anticipate,  what  multiplied  facili- 
ties, what  increase  of  power,  what  amazing  victories  of  grace, 
all  preparing  the  world  for  the  meridian  blaze  of  millennial 
splendor  and  glory  ! This,  then,  is  our  greatest  encouragement, 
even  the  almighty  power  of  God,  promised  in  Christ,  to  give 
success  to  the  Church.  Faith  lays  hold  of  the  power  and  the 
promise  together,  while  hope  reaches  forth  to  enjoy,  in  blessed 
anticipation,  the  glorious  result.  The  missionary  cause  is  one 
to  which  we  can  commit  ourselves  with  all  confidence  and  zeal, 
for  it  is  the  cause  dearest  to  the  heart  of  the  triune  God.  Its 
principle  is  love,  its  end  is  salvation,  its  path  is  suffering,  its 
crown  is  glory. 

Fathers,  and  brethren,  and  members  of  the  body  of  Christ, 
the  voice  of  the  ascended  Master  speaks  to  us,  not  only  in  His 
authoritative  Word,  but  calls  to  us  loudly  in  His  peculiar  pro- 
vidence, to  engage  in  this  blessed  work.  The  times  in  which 
we  live  are  portentous  and  propitious.  From  the  Arctic  Ocean 
to  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Caspian 
shore,  yea,  throughout  all  the  world,  revolutions  are  beginning, 
wars  are  waging,  thrones  are  tottering,  empires,  kingdoms  and 
states  are  dissolving.  He  who  sits  King  in  the  holy  hill  of 
Zion,  is  dashing  the  nations  as  a potter’s  vessel,  with  His  rod  of 
iron.  He  chastises  them  in  His  sore  displeasure.  But  what  if 
all  this  is  the  ansioer  to  our  awn  'prayer  ? What  if  the  agita- 
tions which  now  convulse  the  world  are  but  the  proofs  of 
Christ’s  faithfulness  to  His  people,  the  awaking  of  the  Master  to 


22 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


avenge  His  own  elect  who  cry  unto  Him  day  and  night,  and, 
in  making  their  prayer  for  Him  continually,  long  for  the 
coming  of  His  glory  ? What,  if  all  the  apparent  present  dis- 
couragements arising  from  civil  and  political  convulsions  in  the 
world,  are  hut  mighty  c?tcouragements  from  Him  who  is  won- 
derful in  counsel  and  excellent  in  working?  It  is  even  so. 
After  the  night  comes  day,  after  the  storm  the  calm,  after 
judgment  mercy,  after  the  dark  dominion  of  Satan  in  this 
world  the  bright  appearing  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord.  When 
the  Apostle  John  beheld  in  vision  the  seven  angels,  to  whom 
were  given  the  trumpets  by  which  the  mighty  revolutions,  in- 
strumental in  the  overthrow  of  the  powers  of  darkness  in  this 
world,  and  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  univer- 
sally, were  to  be  announced,  he  saw  Jesus  Himself,  the  Angel 
of  the  Covenant,  standing  before  the  throne  of  God,  present- 
ing with  incense  of  His  own,  the  prayers  of  His  people ! 
“ There  was  given  to  Him  much  incense  that  He  should  offer  it 
with  the  prayers  of  all  saints,  upon  the  golden  altar  which  was 
before  the  throne ; and  the  smoke  of  the  incense  which  came 
with  the  prayers  of  the  saints,  ascended  up  before  God,  out  of 
the  Angel’s  hand.”  “And  when  the  seventh  angel  sounded, 
there  were  great  voices  in  heaven  saying,  The  kingdoms  of 
this  world  are  'become  THE  KINGDOM  of  our  Lord  and  of 
His  Christ.”  Thus  it  is  that  in  answer  to  our  own  petitions,  in 
answer  to  the  prayer  Christ  Himself  taught  us  to  pray,  “ Thy 
kingdom  come,”  the  revolutions  and  wars  of  the  earth  take 
place,  the  dominion  of  Satan  is  destroyed,  and  the  triumphs  of 
the  great  Captain  of  Salvation  are  achieved.  These  “ troublous 
times  ” are  but  part  of  our  true  encouragement  to  pray  more, 
to  work,  and  hope,  and  believe, "as  never  yet  we  have  done. 
They  are  Christ’s  call  to  us  to  push  forward,  with  increased 
determination  and  zeal,  the  mighty  work  whereby,  with  His 
grace,  the  world  is  to  be  redeemed  to  Himself. 

O for  a baptism  of  missionary  zeal  equal,  at  least  in  power, 
to  that  of  patriotic  fervor  which  has  fallen  upon  the  nation ! 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


23 


O for  a liberality  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  such  as  that  we  have 
shown  in  the  cause  of  our  country  ! O for  a union  of  purpose 
and  effort  under  the  banner  of  the  cross  ! If  but  the  wealth 
that  is  poured  forth  to  save  the  American  nation  from  ruin, 
had  been  consecrated  to  Jesus,  and  given  to  rescue  a perishing 
world  from  sin  ; if  but  the  will  and  devotion  that  are  mani- 
fested by  men  in  an  earthly  cause,  had  been  given  to  one  that 
is  heavenly,  ever-blessed,  and  divine,  how  magnificent  had 
been  the  results  of  missionary  labor,  how  vast  the  victories  of 
the  church,  how  glorious  the  name  of  the  Saviour  in  all  the 
universe  ! While  we  are  loyal  to  our  country,  let  us  be  loyal 
to  Christ.  Let  our  faith,  and  work,  and  love,  and  hope,  con- 
spire to  give  perishing  men  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  Him 
crucified.  God  has  a mighty  work  for  this  nation  to  do,  and 
with  mighty  energies  He  has  graciously  endowed  her.  He 
punishes  her  now  for  her  sin,  but  refined  by  the  fire,  she  shall 
only  serve  Him  the  better  in  after  days.  He  calls  the  church 
to  repentance  and  renewed  consecration  of  herself  to  Him. 
Among  the  mighty  instrumentalities  He  is  about  to  employ 
for  His  own  glory,  who  can  doubt  that  he  designs  to  use  the 
x\merican  nation  ? With  a territory  unsurpassed  in  heavenly 
favor  by  any  on  the  face  of  the  earth ; with  resources  uue- 
qualed  and  inexhaustible ; with  a geographical  position  cen- 
tral to  all  the  nations  of  the  globe  ; with  an  area,  extending 
over  rock,  and  mountain,  and  river,  and  lake,  and  forest,  and 
prairie,  from  Atlantic  to  Pacific,  and  from  tropics  to  polar  re- 
gions, equal  to  three-fourths  of  all  Europe  ; a prospective  pop- 
ulation, too,  at  the  close  of  this  century  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  souls,  and  crowned  with  gospel  privileges  and 
peerless  institutions,  what  might  she  not  accomplish  for  the  sal- 
vation of  mankind,  if  but  the  grace  of  Christ  were  shed  upon 
her  ? For  this  let  us  pray.  For  this  let  us  labor.  For 
this  let  us  stir  up  our  strength  as  a Christian  people,  and  en- 
gage afresh  in  the  work  God  has  given  us  to  do.  Let  our 
hearts’  desire  and  prayer  to  God  be  that  our  land  may  become 


24 


A MISSIONARY  ADDRESS. 


Immanuers  land,  a crown  of  glory  in  tlie  hand  of  the  Lord,  a 
royal  diadem  in  the  hand  of  our  God,  Hephzi-bah,  a land  in 
which  the  Lord  delighteth,  Beulah,  married  to  the  Lord,  no 
more  desolate  nor  forsaken,  hut  one  over  whom  her  God  shall 
rejoice  as  the  bridegroom  rejoiceth  over  the  bride.  Then,  bap- 
tized with  the  spirit  of  love  and  self-sacrifice  for  the  sake  of 
Christ,  and  rising  to  the  full  appreciation  of  the  solemn  and 
momentous  trust  committed  to  our  hands,  holding  in  our  grasp 
the  key  that  unlocks  a glorious  and  eternal  future  to  the  dying 
millions  of  our  race,  we  shall  go  forth  and  bid  them  enter  the 
open  door  of  mercy,  faltering  not  and  fainting  not,  until  the 
saving  knowledge  of  Christ  shall  fill  and  cover  the  earth  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea. 


